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Anatoly Malykhin was never shy in confessing his love for all things sweet, but the two-division world champion is keeping an eye on his recent consumption of chocolates.
The ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion is an unabashed lover of desserts, and he revealed that he’s cut down on his chocolate consumption as he prepares for his middleweight debut.
Malykhin will challenge Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight MMA world title at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 at Lusail Sports Arena.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Malykhin said he still eats the treat but only a bar at a time.
Anatoly Malykhin said:
“So the secret is in chocolate. I eat less chocolate and when I was the heavyweight I was eating every day. I was eating like two chocolate bars, but now I'm eating just one. [When I move back to heavyweight] I'm just going to switch to three bars per day.”
Malykhin, a natural heavyweight, has shown no signs of trouble dropping down a weight class. He showed that quality when he went to light heavyweight in December 2022.
The Russian star had no problems dropping to the 225-pound division when he challenged and beat de Ridder for the ONE light heavyweight MMA world title at ONE on Prime Video 5.
Watch Malykhin's entire interview below:
Anatoly Malykhin says it’s arrogant to say he’s the best middleweight in the world
While he showed unbridled confidence throughout his career, Anatoly Malykhin is humble enough to admit his limitations.
‘Sladkiy’ is more than ready to dethrone de Ridder from his throne and become the only fighter to simultaneously hold three world titles across three weight classes.
Malykhin, however, isn’t that brash to call himself the best middleweight on the planet.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Malykhin said:
“I can’t say that [being the best] about myself in the middleweight division because this will be my first fight in this weight, and it would be arrogant to say that I’m the best without ever having fought in it.”
